Health Insurance Blog

Recently, my brother asked me about using the Healthcare.gov website to sign up for health insurance, which sparked a discussion about what the Marketplace does and if it is a good route to go through.

As Open Enrollment approaches, you will probably be hearing a lot about the Healthcare.gov Marketplace.  But who really benefits from this marketplace and how will you know if you are even eligible to use the Marketplace to sign up for health insurance?  These are great questions that I will address.

http://kff.org/health-reform/faq/health-reform-frequently-asked-questions/#question-who-can-buy-coverage-in-the-marketplace states that:

“Most people can shop for coverage in the Marketplace. To be eligible you must live in the state where your Marketplace is, you must be a citizen of the U.S. or be lawfully present in the U.S., and you must not currently be incarcerated.

Not everybody who is eligible to purchase coverage in the Marketplace will be eligible for subsidies, however. To qualify for subsidies people will have to meet additional requirements having to do with their income and their eligibility for other coverage.”

So basically, if you are a U.S. Citizen and you would like to use the Marketplace, you can.  However you may or may not receive any tax credit for your premium, so it wouldn’t be better then signing up with an insurance carrier directly if you do not qualify for a subsidy.  Consider this as you gear up for Open Enrollment.

This article was written by Marissa, a contributing writer and employee of The Health Insurance Specialists Inc.

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